Aircraft passenger seats with life vests are known generally and in civil aviation in a multiplicity of embodiments. In the case of conventional aircraft passenger seats, the life vest serving as lifesaving equipment in an emergency splashdown is usually kept in a life vest container located beneath the aircraft seat (see, e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 3,623,683). The life vest is folded in the form of a cushion, and is inserted into the life vest pouch used to accommodate the life vest.
In conventional storage compartments for conventional aircraft passenger seats, the life vest can to some extent be accessed only with some difficulty. This difficulty can be a disadvantage in emergency situations. Errors are also possible in an emergency. It is against such errors that the life vest is now in effect provided for seat occupants. Since the rescue systems in use in the form of life vests are provided with expiration dates for verification or renewal, maintenance operations are possible only occasionally for examining personnel because of the xe2x80x9chiddenxe2x80x9d location of the life vests. In addition, separately located life vests increase the takeoff weight of aircraft, and this reduces the profitable useful load to be transported.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,619,623 descloses an aircraft passenger seat with storage compartment for a life vest in a box-like recess in the back rest. The life vest is removed from the recess after the opening of a cover at the top of the back rest. The cover is sealed by adhesive sealing strips. To remove the life vest, the occupant of the seat must leave the seat, at least temporarily. This movement necessarily involving opening of the safety belt and is disadvantageous to safety. To better recognize and to ease handling of the cover of the recess, this cover is provided with a pull strap. However the pull strap is not in the immediate field of view of the occupant of the seat, but rather is in the field of view of the occupant of the seat immediately behind the seat housing the life vest. Thus, it is not clear which life vest belongs to which seat occupant. The latter situation creates the likelihood of confusion, which confusion can make dealing with dangerous situations significantly more difficult in an emergency.
GB-A-2 026 853 discloses a seat, preferably one used in watercraft, with a life vest which is an integral part of the padding of the seating element and a part of the back rest surface. It does not prevent the necessity of the seat occupant leaving this seat temporarily in an emergency to retrieve the life vest, something which entails the safety risks referred to previously.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,342,109 discloses a generic aircraft passenger seat in which the life vest is itself a padding element for the back rest. As an integral part of the back rest the life vest may be removed from an appropriate recess. In this instance also, the occupant of the aircraft passenger seat must leave his seat to be able to remove the life vest assigned to him. Once the life vest has been positioned among the other padding elements of the back rest, it is covered by an upwardly folding cloth covering sheet which may be fastened to the other cover elements of the back rest by adhesive sealing strips. The conventional life vest is in form similar to a float of solid material. The service weight of the life vest is thus correspondingly high.
Objects of the present invention are to improve aircraft passenger seats so that the life vests are more readily accessible, errors in the use of life vests are prevented, and reduction in weight is achieved.
The life vest is integrated with the padding element of the leg support and is folded to resemble a cushion. It is introduced into the recess in the leg support padded element. The leg support padding that would otherwise be provided is replaced by the folded life vest. Such replacement achieves reduction in weight in comparison to the conventional solutions, and provides the possibility of higher useful loads.
Since the life vest is introduced into the leg support as an integral component, immediate accessibility of the life vest by the occupant of the seat in the event of an emergency is ensured. The seat occupant can gain access to the life vest simply by spreading his legs, without having to leave his seat, and remove the life vest immediately without inconveniencing the persons near him. In addition, the passenger in question can use the life vest assigned to him quickly and without error in an emergency. In view of the ease of accessibility, inspection of a particular life vest is made easy for examining personnel. The solution of the present invention is also advantageous in that, in the case of aircraft with very cramped cabin seating conditions, every aircraft a passenger seat may be equipped with a life vest of its own, where there would otherwise be no room. Life vests cannot be kept in a central location due to difficulty of access. The last named circumstance occurs in the sphere of amateur aviation.
In a preferred embodiment of the aircraft passenger seat of the present invention, the life vest may be mounted in a recess in the padding element and may be covered by a covering element as an integral part of the padding element or may be introduced without a cover into the padding element. The cover can ensure flush sealing with the other parts of the padding element and so serves to increase seating comfort. In addition, a suitable cover protects the life vest from damage, so that the vest may, if desired, be mounted in the padding element. Even without a cover, the flexibility of the life vest ensures at least to some extent the padding property of the padding element into which the life vest is introduced, so that reasonable seating comfort is achieved.
In an effort to conserve space, the life vest is preferably folded like a cushion, removable either by itself or together with its protective case from the recess in the padding element. For this purpose the life vest is more or less rectangular in shape, and fits precisely in the recess.
In another preferred embodiment of the aircraft passenger seat of the present invention, the cover of the padding element is provided with a pull strap for opening. The cover is hinge-connected to the remaining padding element so that after opening the life vest faces the occupant of the seat to provide immediate access to the vest. Accordingly, the occupant of the seat swings the cover away from himself and is not hampered by the cover in the area of access to the life vest.
If the life vest is part of the leg support, it may also be rapidly accessed with the passenger suitably restrained in the aircraft passenger seat by the belt restraint system.
In another preferred embodiment of the aircraft passenger seat of the present invention, the leg support is divided into at least two parts by the padding elements. The life vest is mounted either in the padding element facing toward or facing away from the free end of the leg support or the foot rest of the seat.
For the sake of better identification of the life vest, the cover may be designed to be at least partly transparent or may be provided with marking. For the sake of permanent use, the cover for the life vest may be resealed, in particular by means of adhesive strip fasteners, for example, fasteners such as are marketed under the trade name xe2x80x9cVelcro fastenersxe2x80x9d.